I Think A Virus Has Killed My Computer

tmac2345 · 09-02-2009, 06:37 PM

(Mod's I believe that I am right section of the site with this problem, I apologize if I am not)

OK, I'm pretty sure that my computer is toast, but I wanted to get advice from people who know something about computers which I do not. I really only use my computer for Internet/E-Mail. I have a dell desktop with windows XP.

Here is my situation, on Monday I tried to watch a TV show (dumb I know) from a file sharing site and picked up a virus of some sort. I can no longer launch an Internet browser, or open up any virus scanning programs I have. I tried to do a system restore. but the computer would not respond after I selected a date and hit enter.

So I then panicked and tried to restore it to its original factory settings with ctrl, f11 on start-up, but that did nothing either, it just rebooted like a normal start-up even after I chose the options saying to restore the machine to factory settings.

So is this computer done, or would I be able to buy a new virus protection software package and install it to get rid of this problem? I'm sorry for not explaining this better, but I'm really not a computer person. I really appreciate any help.

Ried · 09-04-2009, 11:31 PM

Hello tmac2345,

Before we can answer that, we need more information. Please follow our pre-posting process outlined here:

NEW INSTRUCTIONS - Read This Before Posting For Malware Removal Help

After running through all the steps, you shall have a proper set of logs. Please post them in a new topic, as this one shall be closed.

If you have trouble with one of the steps, simply move on to the next one, and make note of it in your reply.

09-02-2009, 06:37 PM	#1 (permalink)
tmac2345 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 1 OS: Windows XP	I Think A Virus Has Killed My Computer (Mod's I believe that I am right section of the site with this problem, I apologize if I am not) OK, I'm pretty sure that my computer is toast, but I wanted to get advice from people who know something about computers which I do not. I really only use my computer for Internet/E-Mail. I have a dell desktop with windows XP. Here is my situation, on Monday I tried to watch a TV show (dumb I know) from a file sharing site and picked up a virus of some sort. I can no longer launch an Internet browser, or open up any virus scanning programs I have. I tried to do a system restore. but the computer would not respond after I selected a date and hit enter. So I then panicked and tried to restore it to its original factory settings with ctrl, f11 on start-up, but that did nothing either, it just rebooted like a normal start-up even after I chose the options saying to restore the machine to factory settings. So is this computer done, or would I be able to buy a new virus protection software package and install it to get rid of this problem? I'm sorry for not explaining this better, but I'm really not a computer person. I really appreciate any help.

09-04-2009, 11:31 PM	#2 (permalink)
Ried Assistant Manager, TSF Academy; Moderator/Analyst Security Team Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 27,072 OS: WinXP and Vista	Re: I Think A Virus Has Killed My Computer Hello tmac2345, Before we can answer that, we need more information. Please follow our pre-posting process outlined here: NEW INSTRUCTIONS - Read This Before Posting For Malware Removal Help After running through all the steps, you shall have a proper set of logs. Please post them in a new topic, as this one shall be closed. If you have trouble with one of the steps, simply move on to the next one, and make note of it in your reply. __________________ Member of ASAP since 2005 Member of UNITE since 2006 "It is one life whether we spend it laughing or weeping." "Take the time to laugh--it is the music of the soul."